A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider has broken records by being nominated for 27 awards—the most ever for a single book—in The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Awards! The judges shortlisted 16 articles and stories by 15 writers. Yes, one of them is my short story, "Twenty-five Years Later," which chronicles the reunion of [ Read more...]
So pleased that our anthology, A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, edited by Wendy E. Nelles and me, and featuring 37 Canadian writers, has won the 2012 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award in the Gift Book category. All award winners are listed on the Christian Small Publishers Association’s (CSPA) website [ Read more...]
A novel or short story has to start with an idea. Usually, that idea is one of four things: a character; a setting, a plot, or a theme (message). Here are some concrete examples from my books: 1. A Character My novel, In Time of Trouble, started with a character. The boy who was the [ Read more...]
Bad things happen. Good things happen. Surprising things happen. Funny things happen. Scary things happen. And writers write about them. All of them. The good, the bad, and the scary. The norm is to simply want to tell the story from beginning to end. "This happened and then this happened and then…." However, the reality [ Read more...]
If you look really closely, you'll see a small turtle hidden in the reeds in this picture I took at Wye Marsh a few years ago. Today, I'm feeling a lot like that turtle—scared to stick my neck out, wondering if I should just stay out of sight, pretend I'm not even here. My so-called [ Read more...]
A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is now available at most bookstores and other locations where books are found. Like the first book, this one was edited by Wendy Nelles and me. It took virtually all my time from August until the end of January. Well, more than that actually because now we're in [ Read more...]
We had a great time in Vancouver. Eighteen people turned up for our Greater Vancouver Writers' Day workshops. I think everyone was happy. I know Les and I were. Great to connect! We also managed to touch base with other members of The Word Guild from the area, including Lando Klassen, owner of the House [ Read more...]
Many writers get ideas from listening to the news, reading newspapers or the internet, watching programs about current affairs, noticing topics that are trending… In fact, being alert to what's going on in the world is usually a great way to get started as a writer. Many local or regional newspapers are interested in stories [ Read more...]
This is one of two blogs I wrote in 2009 that won The Word Guild 2010 Award for Blog Series this June. “Some people are uncoachable,” said the speaker, who was giving tips on mentoring others. I nodded in agreement. I'd recently been thinking the same thing, and it was good to hear him affirm [ Read more...]
A big thanks to Margaret Gibb, Executive Director of Women Alive, who decided to interview me for her "Canada's Amazing Women" column in the June/July issue of Maranatha News. The title of the column is "When the 'Different' Ugly Duckling Becomes a Swan," which comes directly from my article, "The Diamond Ring," published in Hot [ Read more...]
Follow N. J Lindquist 
Recent Comments